Cannabis-Cooking and Edibles with the Source

Cannabis makes us happy. Food makes us happy. Cannabis with Food makes us super happy and a better combination is very hard to find. Any time you are using butter, adding sugar, making a sauce, whipping frosting, baking something special, or just making pancakes with syrup, you always have the ability to incorporate cannabis. People have been making edibles with cannabis (Canna-Cooking) for a long time so the Source isn’t recreating edibles, but it is vastly improving how they are made by making it much easier, cleaner without the green, and way tastier. Canna-Cooking requires a few simple steps and a couple basic considerations to achieve the final product you desire. To cook with cannabis one must determine if decarboxylation is necessary, what medium will carry the cannabis oil, how to prepare the cannabis oil, and the potency of the resulting delicious edible.

DECARBOXYLATION (DECARB)

The need for decarboxylation depends on the canna-oil’s intended use. Quite simply, if the oil is to be smoked decarb (decarboxylate) is not necessary because when it meets high heat (like a lighter) the THCA immediately becomes THC . On the other hand, to get the ‘high’ from eating cannabis the THCA must be made into THC before oral ingestion. Decarbing cannabis is simply adding heat at a specific temperature for a set amount of time to ‘activate’ the THC. For example, at 293°f the cannabis will be decarbed in 7-minutes, but at 252°f it will take 27-minutes. Once the heat and/or time limits are exceeded THC will begin to oxidize and be destroyed. For a complete understanding of the decarboxylation process have a look at https://skunkpharmresearch.com/decarboxylation/ (skunkpharm is awesome, spend some time checking out their various resources).

These pictures are a comparison of cannabis before and after decarbing. The cannabis will be a little more toasty in color and feel while the aroma will be quite strong. Next, before preparing the cannabis oil itself a carrier must be chosen.

How to determine if decarbing is necessary? For making edibles that will not encounter heat at any time in preparation proper decarbing will be essential. Baking may or may not require decarbing depending on how much heat and for how long the THC will be exposed. For example, thin cookies will take on heat all the way through for 10-12 minutes so prior decarbing may introduce too much heat/time exposure having a negative effect on potency. On the other hand, brownies will cook longer but the center of the batter won’t be exposed to a fraction of the heat as the outer edges. So, if the canna-oil in the brownie batter is decarbed the center will be potent and the outer areas much less so. Vice versa, if it wasn’t decarbed the center brownies would contain a lot of unactivated THC.

Medicated oils like olive oil, vegetable oil, coconut oil, and almond oil can be used either raw like in a salad dressing or cooked depending on what is being prepared. When using medicated oils the decision to decarb is just like with baking. If it is going to meet heat in preparation decarbing is probably not necessary, but if using an oil in a raw state definitely decarb. The guess work can be eliminated by simply adding decarbed raw oil over, or incorporate into, an already cooked dish, thus removing any uncertainty of time and temperature exposure.

CHOOSING A CARRIER

The ‘carrier’ is used to smoothly, evenly, and easily combine the canna-oil with a chosen recipe. The carrier can also be used as a way to store canna-oil for later use. The choice of what carrier to use is a culinary decision more than a cannabis decision. Choose a carrier that is already in the chosen recipe, or get creative and improve the recipe with your own crafting genius. Coconut oil, canola oil, olive oil, butter, maple syrup, corn syrup, and even alcohol are examples of carriers that help to evenly incorporate cannabis into your delectable edibles. Sometimes it doesn’t make it into the recipe and I find myself just licking it off a finger or spoon………and it works just as well 😉

PREPARE CANNA-OIL

Traditional methods like simmering cannabis in butter for an hour or soaking the cannabis in oil for an extended period creates a strong green color and is often laden with chlorophyll and waxes. The great thing about using the Source by Extractcraft is how clean the cannabis oil comes out. With the Source you can choose to craft a cleaner potent THC product or make the dark medicine associated with RSO and Phoenix Tears. The beauty is that you get to choose and control that outcome yourself.

Turning the cannabis plant material into canna-oil is straight forward and essentially the same process every time. Follow the instructions included with the Source or review my blog post Crafting the Concentrate You Want With the Source by ExtractCraft to master the steps of essential oil extraction. Engage wild imagination and extract other botanicals with the cannabis to make amazing and unique flavor combinations. Add coffee, vanilla, orange peel, cloves, cinnamon, lemon, lavender, mint or anything else you can imagine.

Its important to have the final consistency best suited for the particular edible being crafted. Typically the extract is most useful for cooking as a viscous oil mixed into a carrier while still warm to combine completely before it begins to coagulate. There are also great uses for the canna-oil while it is still in a tincture state. For example, Adult beverages can be invigorated with some mint flavored canna-oil tincture. You are the crafter and master of the oil, make it how you want it!

THC DOSE AND POTENCY

After decarbing, choosing a carrier, preparing and mixing everything into the final edible product it must be determined how potent each serving is. The dose and potency of an edible is determined by how many milligrams of THC is contained per serving. To do this, find the total amount of THC in milligrams (mg) and divide by the total number of serving.

Take the weight of the cannabis material being extracted and convert to milligrams. For example, 28g is equal to 28,000mg.

Multiply the cannabis weight in milligrams by the THC percentage. For cannabis that’s 10% THC and weighs 28,000mg (1 oz) the total THC is 2,800mg.

Using all the canna-0il to make 50 cookies results in each cookie containing 56mg of THC. 2,800 mg/50 = 56mg each cookie

Keep in mind a ‘standard’ dose is 10mg and only 5mg for a beginner. For the inexperienced it is worth mentioning that once consumed it can take 2-hours for the effects of the cannabis to be felt. Patience should be exercised and wait for at least 2-hours before taking any more. The effects take longer to set in but they will last for several hours. Experienced edible consumers might consume 100’s of milligrams at a time so be careful not to blindly follow what someone else is consuming.

Now its time to bust loose and make some incredible things to eat! If you have extras pass them over!!!

PLEASE SHARE AND LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU ARE COMING UP WITH

I am really interested in hearing about your successes in making your medicine and edibles. I hope you have as much fun as I am! Please post any questions or comments you have. Happy Canna-Cooking!

I am looking for a good recipe to make an alcohol base which can be used for infusing sugar. If you have a good format for making that I’d be very interested. Also if you know anything about infusing sugar. Thus far the only recipe I’ve found uses sugar utilizes the infused alcohol then baked in the oven.

Hi, the infused alcohol and oven bake is the most popular. I have made the cannabis oil then incorporated directly into corn syrup and honey directly. May I ask why you want to make infused sugar? I take a very direct approach to cooking with cannabis I simply extract the oil, then incorporate that directly into my recipe or mix with a carrier first to help with even distribution in the mix